Sharing Attendance Data with Touring Artists (in an open and linked world)

February 21, 2017 – In the United Kingdom, The Audience Agency has launched Showstats, a platform to allow producers and touring agents to access attendance statistics across an entire tour.

Interestingly, this particular need was brought up by producers last week at Bourse RIDEAU during a presentation on a big data initiative led by Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles. Producers said this would make it possible for them to cross-tabulate this information with other statistics on downloads so they could better understand their fan base.

Beyond confidentiality considerations, the key to enabling such information sharing is the assigning of a unique identifier to the show on tour. Otherwise, a simple spelling difference can get in the way of accurate attendance data aggregation. Then, this unique ID can be linked to other information such as the discipline of the show, the creators, the performers, and so on. The result is a rich web of data out of which an infinite number of practical applications can be derived for the benefit of creators, presenters and audience members.

But whose job is it to assigning standardized unique IDs to touring shows? It is a collective responsibility. That's why CAPACOA continues the dialogue with the Digital Innovation Council and strives to bring parties together around transformative digital initiatives.

We'll be announcing soon the date of our next web conference. Stay tuned.